Funerals of African-Americans in New Orleans lift
participants to the hope promised in today’s readings.Arriving at the cemetery, mourners step out
of their cars and their sorrow.They
follow the casket in a dance of life.It
is not a moment of sadness but an occasion of God’s victory over death.It is the time when the saints go marching
in.

Today the Church joins the great procession of saints who
have never been canonized to the ten thousand holy women and men officially
recognized.In doing so, she confirms
our sense that people whom we have known share the glory of heaven.These saints may include our gracious
grandmother who always had a few pennies for us to buy a treat on the way to
school.They also may number our favorite
teacher who not only taught us his or her particular expertise but also the
virtues of adulthood.

We must be careful not to indiscriminately say that all
the dead are now saints.Evil is a
factor in the world with some buying plainly into it.But no one lies beyond the reach of God’s
mercy.For those who led compromised
lives we will pray tomorrow.For now we want
to ask all the saints, especially those to whom we have been close, to pray for
us.We too hope to surmount the evil
which tempts us so that we may be counted in their number.

In the gospels Jesus frequently speaks with hyperbolic language.That is, he exaggerates to convey his
message.For example, he says, “If your
hand causes you to sin, cut it off.”This
should not be taken literally.It is
wrong to do physical harm to a body member unless there is a commensurate reason
like saving one’s life.In another place
Jesus says that no one can be his disciple unless he or she hates his father
and mother.Here again he is not to be
taken literally.What about today’s
gospel?Are we not to invite friends to
the parties that we host?

Of course, it is all right to have parties with friends.The poor and the lame may also be invited,
but their presence may cause awkwardness for everyone involved.One might have special dinners for the poor
as some churches do weekly or monthly.Alternatively,
one may donate time or money to services that feed the poor daily.

Overall, Jesus insists that we live in solidarity with
the poor.Solidarity is not a vague
feeling of concern for the poor but a firm commitment of support.Nor is it sufficient to define poverty
loosely so that the poor are, for example, those who lack meaning in their
lives.No, we must give preferential
consideration to those who lack the basic necessities of life – food, medical
care, housing, etc.At the very least solidarity
compels us to respect the poor by shaking their hand and talking with them.

The title “Jude, the Obscure,” belongs to a novel written by
Thomas Hardy, but it might describe one of the two apostles whom we celebrate
today.Besides his appearance on the
lists of apostles given by Luke, Jude’s (or, more accurately, not the
traitorous Judas’) name is mentioned in the Gospel according to John as the
apostle who asks Jesus why he will reveal himself to the apostles and not to
the world (John 14:22). It is very unlikely
that this apostle wrote the New Testament letter that bears the same name.

Simon’s story is a bit thicker than that of Jude although
all that we know of him comes from the distinction the evangelists make between
him and Simon Peter.Luke says that he
is known as “a Zealot,” meaning that he is passionate about fulfilling the
Jewish law.Nevertheless, we should not
think of him as a member of the revolutionary band that is known as Zealots a
generation after Jesus.

The first three evangelists are clear that Jesus
intentionally chooses only twelve men to form his inner group of
disciples.They also show that the men come
from different backgrounds -- fishermen and a tax collector, for example.The fact that Simon is a zealot about the law
and Matthew (or Levi) is of a profession that downplays the Law’s authority further
indicates that Jesus intends that his followers bridge their differences for
the project he is establishing.What we
should find here is that Jesus’ presentation of the Kingdom of God
is neither ersatz nor haphazard.He has
a plan which encompasses fulfilling the prophetic hope of the reunification of
the twelve tribes of Israel.The reunification will blossom after
Pentecost.It will become a movement to
include people moved by the Holy Spirit to form God’s family.

A recent article in a leading magazine has undermined the
prospect of finding simple explanations for human behavior.Since scientists developed genetic theory,
they have held out the promise of discovering genes that govern all human
traits.Some have looked for genes that
trigger virtue as there are genes that control hair color.The article concludes that genes do not work
so neatly.It says that genes almost
always “overlap and interleave” with others to produce different effects.Of course, genetic determinism has always
been questioned by behaviorists who attribute human conduct to upbringing.With all this complexity it might be asked if
the Letter to the Ephesians’ assertion that evil spirits cause one’s difficulty
to be good is really far-fetched.

The letter stresses that the quest to live morally is not
a simple struggle with natural elements.Rather it proposes that spiritual principalities derail moral
progress.It also encourages readers to
use the armaments of the Church to overcome evil powers.Some of these arms are meditation on Scripture,
receiving the sacraments, prayer, and fasting.

We should not underestimate the attraction of evil.Pleasure, power, and false pride tempt the
best of us to put our own wills ahead of God’s. It is not childish much less foolish to think
of these instincts as being manipulated by evil spirits.But we should also be aware that the Holy
Spirit is available to us.The Spirit
will more than enable us to repel evil inclinations.It will help us live as true children of our
loving Father.

Church-goers should resonate with the question posed in
today’s gospel about universal salvation.We make an effort to keep the Lord’s commands and want to know if all our
effort is really necessary.Jesus’
response is both reassuring and provocative.

He says that indeed we must be disciplined if we are
going to be saved.This is what the “narrow
gate” signifies—the hard road of reining in passions so that we do not act in
selfish or in spiteful ways.Discipline
also means cultivating habits of civility and kindness to everyone, even to the
driver who abruptly moves into our lane.

What may come as a shock is that the virtue, which the
Holy Spirit inculcates, is not limited to people who look like us.Central American mothers who send their
children north to avoid their getting involved with drug cartels have the same
love of family that we have.Just so
Muslims who never fail to take pity on the poor possess the same love of
neighbor as we.These people too will find
a place reserved for them in the kingdom of the just.

Mary, St. Anne, Jesus, and John

Follow by Email

About Me

Bilingual Roman Catholic priest of the Southern Dominican Province. The "homilettes" on this website are completely the work of Fr. Mele. They do not necessarily reflect the ideas of the Southern Dominican Province or of any other member of the Order of Preachers. Mail: St. Albert Priory, 3150 Vince Hagan, Irving, TX 75062.
Telephone: (972)438-1626x205.